


Build-A-Beast

by FleetSparrow



Series: Drawlloween 2018 [30]
Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-10 23:50:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16464674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FleetSparrow/pseuds/FleetSparrow
Summary: Create-A-Chum is the newest toy shop in Gotham, and one of its new employees seems awfully familiar.  If only she can stay out of trouble.





	Build-A-Beast

“Welcome to Create-A-Chum, where we'll hope you'll find your bestest friend.”

Dick raised an eyebrow. “Harley?”

She blinked, then smiled wide. “Gee, it's Dick Grayson! What are the odds?” Harley smiled down at the boy beside him. “And who's this, your nephew?”

“This is my brother, Damian,” Dick said. “So, you're out of Arkham.”

“Yeah, and it's a pretty sweet gig here, I don't mind telling you. Lots of smiles and happy kids.” She batted her eyelashes at him while a kid screamed in the background. “It’s a living.”

“And you’re not tied up with him again, are you?”

“No. Mr. J and I have gone our separate ways. The lousy, stinkin’—”

“Harley! Are we making happy customers?” called someone from the checkout stand.

“Yes, Loni!” Harley turned back to Dick and Damian. “So, come in. I’ll show you around.”

She led them to a wall of unstuffed stuffed animals. “This is our variety wall! You can pick any critter from the wall and we’ll stuff ‘em full of love and stuffing.”

“What do you think about this, Damian?” Dick asked, picking up a dog plushie out of a bin.

“I’m not a child, Grayson.”

Dick and Harley shared a look.

“I know,” she said. “I know just the thing for people who are definitely not children.” She went over to another bin and pulled out a dinosaur. “This is the T. Rex. The king of the dinosaurs.”

“Yes, I know what the Tyrannosaurus Rex was,” Damian said.

“You can put a sound in it to make it roar,” Harley said, shaking the unstuffed critter at him. “RRRAAWWRR!”

Damian was taken aback, then studious. “Yes, Grayson. The dinosaur will do.”

“That’s my boy, Damian!” Dick said. “We’ll take him.”

“All right! Come over here to the stuffing station,” Harley said, leading them there. She talked on about how they stuffed the critters and what the store was like as she stuffed the dinosaur. She gave Damian a sound to add, and then a heart to put into his T. Rex. She ran him through the steps to wake up the heart—Damian found this humiliating while Dick wished he could film it—and finally sewed up the back of the T. Rex.

“All done!” She handed the dinosaur to Damian. “Now just go up to Loni and she’ll have you squared away in no time so you can play with your new bestest friend!”

“It’s good to see you doing good, Harley,” Dick said quietly.

“Thanks,” she said shyly.

They quickly took the dinosaur home and into the Batcave where Bruce was waiting for them. Immediately, they dissected the T. Rex, pulling out its stuffing to get to the heart and sound box. Bruce ran them through a special detector. The sound box was filled with Smilex, though a diminished kind.

“It likely isn’t fatal,” Bruce said, reading the analysis report. “But with young children, there’s no telling.”

“I really hoped she’d gone straight this time,” Dick said. “She really seemed happy there.”

Bruce shot him a look. “She’s likely still pining for the Joker and doing this in the hopes of impressing him.”

Dick nodded. “I can always hope, though.”

“I know, Dick. You see the best in everyone.”

They returned that night, suited up in their costumes, ready to shut down the place. A light was still on in the building. Someone was still there.

They snuck inside. The alarm didn’t go off. Someone else was here. Batman, Nightwing, and Robin fanned out, taking the entry points. Slowly, they moved towards the back of the building. Humming came from the back room. Batman led them to the open door.

Harley was inside, injecting small canisters into the sound boxes. Batman’s shadow fell over her and she froze. She spun around.

“I swear, I’m not doing anything wrong.”

“You’re putting Smilex into children’s toys,” Batman said, his eyes narrowed. “Do you not understand how dangerous that is?”

“No, see, this is a new formula! It just makes you smile!” She beamed at him. “Because kids always need a smile.”

“Harley.”

She sighed and stood up. “I guess it’s back to Arkham, huh?”

“Yes, Harley.”

“I tried.”

The next day, Create-A-Chum announced recalls of all stuffed animals with sound boxes, to swap them out for nontoxic ones. In surrounding cities, there was outrage. In Gotham, it was just another Tuesday.


End file.
